DHAKA, May 9, 2018 (BSS) – The National Economic Council (NEC) on Thursday may approve an overall Taka 1,80,869.17 crore Annual Development Programme (ADP) for the next fiscal year including the organizations’ own fund with the transport sector receiving the highest allocations.
The next ADP, surely to be the highest development budget in the history of the country, will give emphasis on speeding up the construction works of some mega infrastructure projects like the Padma bridge, Rooppur nuclear power plant, Karnaphuli tunnel, Matarbari power plant, Padma Bridge rail link and Dhaka metro rail, said a Planning Commission official.
NEC Chairperson and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will preside over the meeting to be held at the NEC conference room in the city’s Sher-e-Bangla Nagar area.
The official told BSS that of the overall ADP size, Taka 1,19,810.95 crore is likely to come from the local sources while Taka 61,058.22 crore from foreign sources.
Excluding the state owned autonomous organizations’ own fund of Taka 7,869.17 crore, the official said the original ADP size for the next fiscal year has been estimated at Taka 1,73,000 crore of which Taka 1,13,000 crore will come from the local sources while the rest of Taka 60,000 crore from the foreign sources.
The Planning Commission official said the original ADP outlay for the next financial year 2018-19 is 16.59 percent or Tk 24,619 crore higher than that of the revised allocation for the current fiscal year of FY2018.
The official said Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina may increase the allocation if the demands of various ministries and divisions are deemed logical.
The mega projects like Rooppur power plant, Dhaka metro rail, Karnaphuli tunnel and Matarbari coal-based power plant projects are also likely to see higher allocations in the next ADP for fiscal 2018-19.
In the proposed ADP, the transport sector will get the highest allocation of Taka 45,449 crore, which is 26.27 percent of the entire budget followed by the power sector, which will get Taka 22,930 crore — 13.25 percent of the total allocation.
Physical planning, water supply, housing sector will get Taka 17,890 crore; rural development organisations Taka 16,690 crore; education and religion Taka 16,620 crore; science, information and communication technology Taka 14,210 crore; health Taka 11,905 crore; agriculture Taka 7,076 crore; water resources Taka 4,592 crore, and public administration Taka 3,361 crore.
On March 7, the ADP for the current fiscal year was revised with the government’s contribution remaining the same at Taka 96,331 crore but the foreign fund component was slashed 8.68 percent to Taka 52,050 crore.
Another official at the Planning Ministry said prioritizing on the 10 mega projects, around Taka 1,28,100 crore would be allocated against the Local Government Division, Power Division, Ministry of Road Transport and Bridges, Ministry of Science and Technology, Ministry of Railways, Ministry of Heath, Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education, and Ministry of Water Resources.
Prioritizing the Padma Bridge project, the Bridges Division is likely to get Taka 9,112 crore in the next ADP while the Roads and Highways Division to get Taka 20,817 crore to keep up the momentum of the metro rail project, the Ministry of Railways is likely to get Taka 11,154 crore considering the implementation of the Padma Bridge rail link project. Besides, the Power Division is likely to see Taka 22,893 crore considering the importance of LNG terminal project at Moheshkhali.
According to the Planning Commission, a total of 1,346 development projects have been included in the ADP for the next fiscal. Besides, some 105 development projects of the autonomous and semi-autonomous agencies have been included.
Officials said out of the total 1,346 projects, some 1,227 schemes are investment projects, 117 are technical assistance projects, two are as the Japan Debt Cancellation Fund-supported projects and the rest projects belong to the autonomous and semi-autonomous bodies of the government.
The proposed ADP has also earmarked 61 development projects aimed at implementing those through the Public Private Partnership (PPP) initiative.